This application relates to managing product information.
A product that is specified by a customer is sometimes not available, at least not within a time period specified by the customer. As a result, the customer may be interested in determining the availability of an acceptable substitute for the specified product. However, determining the acceptability of candidate substitutes can present a significant challenge, particularly if information that is necessary to the acceptability determination is unavailable or incomprehensible to the person who is in charge of acquiring the acceptable substitute.
For example, in an organization that uses research chemicals, a scientist may specify a research chemical product by brand name to a purchasing agent. In such a case, if the specified brand name product is not available, the purchasing agent may not be able to find a substitute that is acceptable to the scientist without involving the scientist in a time consuming trial and error exercise that reduces the productivity of the purchasing agent and the scientist. In particular, if the research chemical is available in different grades or purities from different manufacturers, and in different containers, it may be difficult to determine, from the way in which the scientist originally specified the research chemical, whether a candidate substitute has characteristics that are suitable for the purpose for which the specified product is sought.
In a case in which the specified product is a research chemical, the specification may include a Chemical Abstracts Service registry number (“CAS number”) number, which identifies a substance.